In the News

May 26, 2011 | In an election year where more congressional incumbents were ousted from power than any time since 1948, political action committees were quick to switch allegiances from one party to the other in the aftermath of the historic Democratic losses.

November 10, 2010 | Imagine that every member of Congress represents the industry or special interests that have contributed the most to his or her campaign coffers. Which industries and special interests, then, lost or won seats in Congress during the 2010 midterm election?

October 18, 2010 | As enthusiasm among conservatives surges, embattled Democrats may be placing their faith in the old Washington maxim that money delivers success on Election Day. That's because heading into the final weeks of the campaign season, Democrats -- not Republicans -- maintained a financial edge in the most competitive House races across the country, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis indicates.

October 7, 2010 | Rep. John Boehner (R-Oh.) has reportedly been working behind the scenes with male Republicans, urging them to avoid appearances of impropriety by cutting down on after-hours partying -- and particularly any partying that involves female lobbyists. And it seems to be working: According to The Hill, female lobbyists are complaining that Boehner's warning has cut off their access to many male Republicans in the House.

October 1, 2010 | This spring and summer, hundreds of millions of gallons of oil seeped into the Gulf of Mexico. Simultaneously, debate raged in Congress about ocean drilling, energy independence, cap and trade legislation and a shift away from fossil-fuel energy sources. Nevertheless, congressional candidates and federal political committees nationwide have raked in more than $17 million from the oil and gas industry so far during the 2010 election cycle -- a number on pace to easily exceed that of the most recent midterm election four years ago.

September 28, 2010 | Incumbency is a monumental obstacle to overcome for any political challenger. But 11 congressional challengers -- nine Republicans and two Democrats -- have managed to raise more money than their incumbent rivals, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis found.

June 17, 2010 | Just 10 lawmakers held assets in the one-time insurance industry titan AIG, or its subsidiaries, at the end of 2008. And according to a Center for Responsive Politics review of those lawmakers' newly released personal financial reports, that number has further eroded.

May 5, 2010 | Both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee have programs to help fund and support vulnerable incumbents. The DCCC runs the "Frontline Program" and the NRCC the "Patriot Program," and the increased financial support facilitated by these programs may be a determining factor in these candidates' success at the polls. So far this cycle, the average House Democrat participating in such a program took in took in nearly $600,000 more than the average non-assisted House member, and the average NRCC-assisted Republican collected about $200,000 above the non-assisted House average.

April 16, 2010 | Federal candidates and officeholders were required to file their first-quarter campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission by midnight last night. As scores of races across the country heat up for competitive contests, here is a snapshot of campaign finance findings regarding a handful of hot races, based on a Center for Responsive Politics review of reports filed with the FEC.

December 9, 2009 | As the U.S. Senate weighs contentious changes to federal abortion policy, the Center for Responsive Politics has also found that pro-choice interests have given sitting senators roughly six times as much as pro-life interests have contributed to them. CRP has further found that senators who voted in favor of tabling an anti-abortion amendment offered by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) received an average of nearly $60,000 from abortion rights supporters and an average of just $80 from anti-abortion interests over the past 20 years.

December 3, 2009 | Insurance giant AIG's political clout is waning as fast as its finances. Since its near-collapse and government bailout last fall, AIG disbanded its lobbying team. It hasn't donated a dollar from its political action committee this year. Furthermore, contributions from individual AIG employees since January are merely a sliver of what they've been in previous cycles -- although a few notable politicians retain financial or political ties to the embattled company. Among these lawmakers is Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, who pledged to return contributions from AIG employees who got post-bailout bonuses but has nonetheless retained tens of thousands of dollars from them given before the bailout.

November 4, 2009 | Even members of Congress – many among the country's richest people -- aren't impervious to the nation's economic recession. Current congressional members' median wealth uncharacteristically dropped nearly 5 percent in 2008 when compared to the prior year, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of federal personal financial disclosure reports indicates.

October 21, 2009 | Democratic incumbents in the U.S. House of Representatives that their party views as potentially vulnerable raised an average of $842,400 since January, while Republican incumbents in the House viewed as potentially threatened raised an average of $597,300, the Center for Responsive Politics has found. Furthermore, these Democratic lawmakers ended the third quarter with an average of $646,000 in cash on hand, while these Republican congressmen ended the quarter with an average of $434,300.

June 25, 2009 | Here's a cool tool that brings together data from various parts of OpenSecrets.org to show how much money each current lawmaker has raised from various health-related industries and the health sector overall since 1989 (including President Obama's haul).

January 28, 2009 | New members of Congress are worth $1 million more than the average incumbent, CRP has found after analyzing the lawmakers' personal financial disclosure reports. As they make decisions about the economy, freshmen and incumbents are heavily invested in the struggling financial sector.

December 22, 2008 | Why, when all but a few tight races have been determined, are candidates still asking for money? Campaign debt. Despite the astronomical sums of money citizens contributed this election cycle, many candidates ended their bids for office in the red. In fact, 665 out of 2,339 candidates in the 2008 election cycle ended their campaigns in a deficit, or 28 percent. The nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics found that '08 candidates have a combined debt of $144 million. However, of that figure, $125 million is self-financed debt, or money that aspiring lawmakers owe to themselves.

October 20, 2008 | At CRP we're diligently updating the congressional election profiles on OpenSecrets.org based on the candidates' campaign finance disclosure reports due last week to the Federal Election Commission. We've pulled together the 3rd Quarter money stats for some of the House races that have been declared toss-ups by political analysts.

September 29, 2008 | The oil and gas industry, under the spotlight this fall with energy at the forefront of political discourse, isn't hesitating to put some of its record profits into the hands of candidates who support its cause (or those it's seeking to convert). So far this election cycle, the oil and gas industry has given $12.3 million total to congressional candidates. The nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has identified the candidates who have received the most money from oil and gas interests in this election cycle, and Capital Eye selected a few races to more deeply examine the impact of well-digger dollars on politics.

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